Melanoma is a dangerous type of skin cancer that occurs when the pigment-producing cells of your skin, called melanocytes, go out of control and become malignant. Melanocytes produce melanin, which is responsible for the natural color of your skin.
Melanin lies beneath the lower part of the epidermis of your skin and protects the deeper parts from the harmful rays of the sun. Once melanocytes get cancerous and go undetected at the early stage, they spread through other parts of the body rapidly.
Once they reach and affect the vital organs, the situation might go out of hand and challenging to cure. Depending on the stage of melanoma, you might need the following therapies:
- Surgery
- Immunotherapy
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
Dermatologists, oncologic surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists together take care of the patient for treatments involved in melanoma.